Aviation road show: A postscript

To cynics, the aviation road show was unnecessary. But they forget one thing; a drastic problem requires a drastic solution. The roadshow was necessary at that point in time because of the June 3 Dana plane crash in which 153 persons died. The road show was meant to address the negative impact of the crash and not a jamboree as insinuated by critics.

With the Senate holding a public hearing on the crash, the ripple effect of that action on the industry could best be imagined. The insurance premium paid on haul by local operators went up astronomically and lease fees also went up by over 100 per cent as many aircraft leasing organisations began to shun the Nigerian market because of the perceived unhealthy climate.

Funding from international agencies equally became threatened and the resultant impact was over 60 per cent drop in local and regional capacity. The development also led to over 25 per cent increase in fares. An hour flight which hitherto cost between N22,000 and N28,000 now oscillates between N30,000 and N32,000 on economy class.

First Nation, Chanchangi, and Air Nigeria went on voluntary grounding; Aero and IRS are running skeletal services. Dana’s operating has just been restored, but its fate remains unknown with the flying public.

Only Arik Air is operating at full capacity and even with increased flight schedules, the situation at our airports remains chaotic. As a minister desirous to make an impact, Princess Stella Odua thought of and came up with the investment road show so as to re-brand the industry to attract local and foreign investors. The local leg of the road show was held in June, in Abuja.

The investment basket tagged: ‘Aerotropolis’, is designed to attract investments into the industry, airport infrastructure, aircraft maintenance and other ancillary sectors like hotels and catering.

After the Abuja meeting, it was time to move to the international market. This informed the visit of the minister and her heads of parastatals to China, Canada and the United States (US). Though the trip was widely criticised, investigations showed that the initiative may just be the needed tonic to transform the ailing industry.

According to reports, The Boeing Corporation which products account for over 80 per cent of the available passenger fleet in the country and Bombardier signified interest in helping to overhaul the existing domestic fleet through a renewal plan that would also seek to set up solid aircraft repair and maintenance organisations (AMOs) in the country.

Boeing, an American based manufacturer of long range jumbo airplanes, indicated eight key areas it would participate in the ministry’s novel project, ‘Aerotopolis’ . Some of the areas are: maintenance centre, fleet renewal for local airline operators, and training. Its Director of Sales, Lawrence Pollivier, who led the Boeing team, promised that his organisation would also help to carry out technical assessment of all Boeing air planes operating in the country and equally assist in developing aviation data base for the country .

Bombardier, a medium range Canada-based aircraft builder, will also embark on AMO and aircraft acquisition programme to help Nigerian airlines acquire brand new bombardier aeroplanes. Its Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Helene V. Gagonon , said the company was ready to invest in the country as soon as all the necessary arrangements were put in place for the project’s take off .

The minister’s delegation also secured the commitment of a leading international Bank, Citibank, to provide fund for companies that would participate in the Aerotropolis, in addition to providing financial advice for the project.

Its head of global investments, Mr Ray McGuire, said the bank would be involved in various phases of the aerotropolis project, adding: ,”aerotropolis offers huge opportunities for major infrastructural development second to none in the sub-continent around the airport community”.

In China, the team had fruitful meetings with investors. Prominent among organisations willing to invest in the project are the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) and Huawei Technologies .

The CSCEC ‘s Vice President, Yu Zhende said Nigeria must develop its aviation to position it as a major hub on the continent. He spoke of his company’s readiness to partner with the country in the aerotopolis project, adding that as soon as all necessary agreements that would guarantee the investments were formalised, his company would move in because funding would not be a problem.

On its part, Huawei presented a proposal for information technology (IT) infrastructure for airport terminals across the country. It was a joint proposal with its partners, SITA, a leading IT solutions provider in the industry.In time, and the results of the road show will manifest and end all talks about its significance.